


Captains’ Trove

by DeepDenizen



Category: Treasure Planet (2002)
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Anxiety Disorder, Arson, Binge Drinking, Bisexual Character, Blood and Violence, Canon-Typical Violence, Depression, Domestic Disputes, Domestic Fluff, Drama & Romance, Drinking, Execution, Explicit Language, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Found Family, Graphic Description, Heavy Drinking, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, More tags will be added later, Mutual Pining, Non-Explicit Sex, Non-Graphic Smut, Piracy, Pirates, Polyamory, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Pre-Canon, Space Pirates, Space mermaids, Swearing, Torture, Treasure Planet (2002) References, this is just the jist
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-31
Updated: 2020-10-15
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:48:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26203702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeepDenizen/pseuds/DeepDenizen
Summary: Captain Nathaniel Flint did not just suddenly appear as the Etherium’s most feared and infamous pirate. In fact, half of The Loot of a Thousand Worlds was divided up in an unofficial prenup, and a fifth of that half was promised to the in-laws.Stories last forever, and sometimes, so do the people who inspired those stories. From their first meeting to the implosion of Treasure Planet and everything in between, meet the man behind the legend. Who knows? You might learn something.
Relationships: Billy Bones/Original Character(s), Canon Character(s)/Original Character(s), Captain Flint/Original Character(s), Nathaniel Flint/Original Character(s)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 12





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Captain Nathaniel Flint did not just suddenly appear as the Etherium’s most feared and infamous pirate. In fact, half of The Loot of a Thousand Worlds was divided up in an unofficial prenup, and a fifth of that half was promised to the in-laws.  
> Stories last forever, and sometimes, so do the people who inspired those stories. From their first meeting to the implosion of Treasure Planet and everything in between, meet the man behind the legend. Who knows? You might learn something.

It was nice and quiet at the Benbow Inn. Jim was working as a server as he and Silver chatted in the kitchen and dining room. Sarah was in the lobby, signing in guests and telling the few staff what to do. The sun shone through the windows with a fuzzy warmth that she had been relishing in for the last 3 years.

The bell over the door rang, turning Sarah’s head, as she prepared to greet her new guests.

Three large characters walked in.

A broad shouldered salamander, with familiar yellow eyes and a curious look, held the door open, lightly shoving the blonde hexaped that followed him in. She rolled her eyes and smacked him lightly on his clothed arm, her long ears twitching, one torn and shredded. While the salamander was thick and muscular, with a thick spiked tail to match, the hexaped was lean and spindly, with six limbs, all with thumbed hands, a feline tail and face, rough with wear and disdain, and red eyes that matched her red and white striped shirt.

The next figure made her slightly tilt her head. Sarah was hit with a sudden rush of familiarity, just as the salamander let the door shut after the strange, hard skinned, man entered. He had his long red hair tied loosely back under his blue hat, a rag tied around his eyes under the shadows of his hat, and a sharp toothed frown that let out a scoff as the salamander said something that had the hexaped shoving him again.

“Good morning,” Sarah smiled, putting on her perfected customer service face and attitude, “Welcome to the Benbow Inn, how may I help you?”

“Could we have two rooms?” The hexaped asked, brushing the rapier strapped to her waist to a less imposing view.

“Yes, ma’am,” Sarah passed the sign in book and grabbed two keys from the drawer under her desk. “14 credits a night for each, breakfast is served at 7 to 9.”

The hexaped signed the paper multiple times while the salamander took the keys and smiled kindly to her, “Thank ya, ma’am.”

He handed one key to the blindfolded man, who then shoved him a bit.

“Have a good stay!” She called after them as they walked to and up the stairs.

“Thanks!” The salamander said.

When they reached out of earshot, the hexaped smirked.

“Okay, Bill, you are staying on a cot,” Cadine snarked.

“What? You’re the one who shoved me off the bed last time!”

The blindfolded man scoffed, “How long has it been since you’ve two boned?”

“Fuck off, Nate.”

While Cadine and Bones fought over who would get a bed all the way to their room, Nate opened the door to his room, just next door, and closed it.

Later on, at lunch, they all had walked down to the dining area, sitting near a window.

They were idly chatting, stopped to order, then returned to their chatter. Nate sipped on his rum, solemnly staring at the table.

“We haven’t checked anything south of the strait,” Cadine offered.

“Mare hated everything south of the strait,” Nate said, “What about Hextar?”

“Checked it already,” Billy said.

Nate growled and put his head on his hand.

“Dammit, a hundred years and ya would think we’d have found her by now.”

“You would think,” Cadine sighed and took a sip of her water.

Nate frowned and took another sip of his own drink.

Jim came walking up with three steaming plates, an apron wrapped around his waist and sleeves rolled up at his elbows, “Order up!”

“Thanks, lad,” Billy winked and tossed him a few coins before digging into his sandwich. More like tearing, sloppily biting into the bread like a man starved.

Nate rolled his eyes under the rag and nodded to the boy before stopping. He hummed at the pin on Jim’s lapel, and nodded to it, “Interstellar Academy, huh?”

Jim shrugged, “I'm out for the summer.”

“Ye sail before?” He asked and leaned back.

“Yeah,” the boy looked him up and down. The seemingly blind man felt familiar. “Went on a six month expedition after the original Benbow burnt down,” he said, “built my own solar surfer, too.”

Nate hummed and returned to his meal.

“Don’t mind ole Nate, here,” Billy smirked and smacked Nate on the shoulder, who grunted and kicked him, “he’s just sour because he got knocked off the cot this morning.”

“Not knocked. Pushed. By you,” he pointed his fork.

“Lovely meal, kid,” Cadine cut off the two’s little spat, “send our compliments to the chef.”

Jim smiled at them with a nod and headed back into the kitchen.

“Gang at table 6 like the food,” Jim said to the large ursid as he whistled away over the stove.

“Course they do,” Silver grinned. “My food be better than what they serve in t’ big palace!”

Jim rolled his eyes and scoffed, then turned to look out the small window facing the dining area, specifically, to the table of misfits.

“Ay, Silver?”

“Yeah, lad?” 

“What they look like to you?”

Silver leaned over to look through the small window at the trio.

The salamander was poking the hexaped while she snarled at him with needle sharp teeth, and the blindfolded stranger was shaking his head at them exasperatingly. They wore loose clothes and had belts strapped with flintlocks and cutlasses on them.

The salamander had a knot of nautical rope wrapped around his right hand, almost like a fighting wrap, and while he was sitting on the far side of the table, Silver could see through the wood that he had a pistol and cutlass strapped side by side on his hips, and another pistol on the other side.

The hexaped had a sash around her waist, and what looked like a spyglass on her hip, along with a long thin blade, a dagger, and a smaller pistol compared to her companion.

The blindfolded one was strange, with a long brown snout and sharp fangs, wild red hair and broad shoulders. He wore a loose fitted white shirt, that was kept close to his waist with a belt and sash that held two pistols and a much longer cutlass, one with a golden hilt, and brown pants tucked into his boots, where a third gun sat. 

“Looks t’me like theys might be pirates,” Silver frowned.

Jim nodded, “Uh huh, thought so. Ya recognize em?”

“Nah. Haven’t seen a mammal hexaped me entire life.”

Jim narrowed his eyes as Silver went back to work, and stared at the blindfolded alien.

Why did he feel so familiar?

* * *

6:50 AM-X, Cardinal X-80, 146 years before present

Within ten minutes of the nearest star rising, the quietness of the port exploded into shouting. A blonde haired woman swung past a wall covered in posters, blowing them to the ground. Particularly, a wanted poster featuring a blonde haired woman with a cheeky smirk and bright eyes. 

"Get back here!"

"Too slow!" The woman shouted behind her. This morning was going swell! She just hoped Cadine had the ship ready.

Lasers fired at her. She ducked and swerved and dodged with a grin, howling the entire way down the street.

"Morning Cash!" A grocer smiled. "Busy morning?"

"Please," she snorted and leapt onto the shingles of the nearest building. "It's actually kind of slow today!"

She looked up and cackled with glee as the blue coated pricks rounded the corner. "Welp," she saluted, "gotta run!"

“Bye!” The grocer said, but she was already gone.

She toppled over crates and carts, skirting past grumpy merchants and other scoundrels. She ducked into the alley and grabbed a passing girl. “Hiya, Beth!” She grinned and grabbed her hat to shield their faces.

“Well, well, well,” the tabby feline smirked as shouting police ran past, “having fun, Cash?”

“As ever,” Cash hopped on her tiptoes and pecked her cheek, “thanks Beth!”

The alley ways grew sparsely populated and quiet, pipes dripping and the cobblestone smelling damp and stale. There was a time when she remembered it being drier and cooler, but now it seemed like the heat and humidity had clustered where the nobodies hung around. Rope and lines hung above her, along with the occasional shirt and trousers.

And she just kept on running.

“Cadine!” She yelled out long before she could even see the docks. “Ready the ship! Cadine! Do you hear me? Ready the ship!”

“What did you get into now?!” A fellow voice echoed down the alley with the promise of a scolding.

Mary howled and laughed and bounded into the light.

The galleon reached into the sky with glowing black sails. The ship was known for sparking fear into the hearts of all merchants and smugglers, her crew that turn into screaming banshees on the attack warding any and all out of her path. Once owned by a pitiful privateer with no experience in captaining a ship, a mutineer rose the crew and it ended with her former captain’s body dangling from the bow of the ship for eight months.

The Throbbing Siren. Captained and rigged by none other than Mary Anne Cash, or as they called her for her shrieks and howls when raiding, The Shrieking Banshee.

Her feet bashed on the wood and she leapt onto the ropes hanging down the side. “You maniac!” A pale hand grabbed her by the shirt and she was yanked over to the deck. Above her grinning face stood Mary’s first mate, dressed in a red striped shirt and a belt holding a rapier, Cadine. A hexaped from the sixth quadrant, her long cat like ears twitched and folded as she bared rows of needle like teeth. “We can’t keep coming back to Cardinal if you keep harassing those twats!”

“Relax, Cads,” Mary hopped to her feet and dusted off her shirt, “it was just a little chase with the blue backs, nothing big.”

Cadine crossed her arms and sat on her hind legs, crossing her second set of arms. “You slept with the Lieutenant's wife again, didn’t you?”

“What can I say?” She smirked and walked past the blonde. “Mrs. Finn is hot!”

Her hand wrapped around a rope, and as the asteroid began to grow smaller, she shouted, “Gars! Take us out!”

“Aye, Captain!” The gar like biped said from the wheel and spun the wheel.

The Strait’s winds tickled Mary’s face as she swung around the ship. Her crew waved and piped in hello’s as she laughed and landed on a shroud. And as the space around her grew brighter with the rising morning, she climbed to the highest point of the main mast and watched the horizon.

She breathed in, letting the fresh air fill her lungs completely until she couldn’t breathe in any more. She released her breath and smiled. 

Today was a good day.

* * *

“Well, it _was_ a good day!” Mary groaned and hit her head against the mast she was hiding behind.

“Gallima, I need more ammo!” She yelled and poked her head around to shoot once more at the merchant ship.

“On it!” The seven tailed serpent wound and leapt through the ropes.

“Carter!”

“Aye, Captain?” The tentacle haired man answered back. He ducked as a bullet flew past his face.

“7 degrees south, tilt the ship!”

She cursed and fired again, “Fucking cocky pricks! Why the hell is a merchant ship so heavily armed?!” 

Cadine winced as a cannon fired and she fired her rifle, “Maybe it's a senate?”

“What would a senate ship be doing in the strait?” Mary yelled back. “It came from Sacy 9! Does that sound like a senate ship to you?!”

They ducked and covered their ears. A cannon blasted and rocketed just shy of the main sails.

“Mary!” Cadine pushed.

“I got it!” She barked and stood. She grabbed onto a rope. Her foot wound around the line and she pulled herself taut.

She kicked the block holding the rope. It popped.

The force of the block letting go threw her into the air. Laser fire grazed her sides and body, but never hit her. She pulled herself up and landed on a sail yard.

“She’s up there!”

“How’d she get up there so fast?!”

“It’s the Banshee!”

She grinned.

With a loud and shrill scream, she sprung.

If she was Terran, nobody could tell. One second, she was standing over them. The next, she had coiled her rope and lines around the crew like snakes.

Her own crew screamed and howled. The Strait was filled with animalistic shrieks and yowls, and with pained and terrified screams, that turned into choked gasps for breath, then gurgles, then, nothing.

The screams and howls carried through the gas clouds of the strait. And alerted another pack to the struggle.

When the smoke of the cannons and blaster fire settled, there were hanging bodies from the mast and yards, others with slashed and torn throats bleeding out on the deck, still with the rope wrapped around their necks and mouths.

Mary grunted. Her elbow made a sickening crack against a sailors nose. She slammed her fist down and kicked the body away.

There were few sailors left, scrambling to jump, rather than be killed by her and her crew.

“Space isn’t going to treat you much better, mate,” Gallima grabbed one with a tail and held a cutlass to his throat.

Mary growled and prowled over like a leopard cornering a deer, eyes shining red under the gas clouds and dust. “What’s in the hold?” She asked, grabbing the beaked squid man by the chin.

“Please, please, I-I-I won’t tell anyone what happened,” He spluttered.

She clicked her tongue and cooed, “Ah ah ah~, don’t change the subject.”

“Uh, cap’n,” Gallima loosened his tail.

“What, Gal-!”

A bottle rolled near her feet. Glass shattered and blew her back. Heat washed against her face and she yelled out.

“What?!” She pushed herself off the deck and snapped to the starboard bow.

Another bottle. **_BAM!_ **

Another, **_BAM!_ **

**_BAM! BAM! BAM!_ **

Cadine approached Mary’s side as they narrowed their eyes at the approaching ship.

It was a pirate’s fast attack ship, fit with red triangular solar sails, retractable arms with blades, hooks and saws, and blasters mounted to the belly of the ship. She could hear the crew's cheers and another Molotov’s Cocktail was chucked onto the merchant ship. It rolled right to her feet, and she sniffed the flame out with her foot before it could burst.

Cadine sneered and groaned with a growl, “Ugh, great.”

“Who the hell is that?” Mary sneered.

“Nathaniel Flint,” Cadine screwed her nose up in a snarl. “The Sycarian Strait’s newest stray.”

“Flint?” Mary looked at her. “You mean the guy that blew up my favorite brothel?”

“Mmmhm.”

“Oh,” Mary pushed up her sleeves and rolled back her shoulders, “I got a bone to pick with this guy.”

Cadine smacked her shoulder and nodded to the now approaching ship, “Knock ‘em dead, Mare. Here he comes.”

The new ship flew to the side of the merchant ship. Its claws dug into the deck with loud slams, and the crew pounced onto the ship.

Her own crew stopped their assault and turned as the captain of the new ship swung onto the deck with a heavy thud.

He smirked, his six eyes fell on her and the tall Volcrien gave a cheeky and boyish smile. “Excuse me, but am I interrupting something?”

Cadine took a step back for Mary as she narrowed her eyes. “Yeah, you are.”

“Whoops!” He held his hands up and looked back, “My bad! I heard the sound of screams and I just had to check it out.”

A large hulking salamander approached his side with an equally annoying smirk, arms crossed over his dress shirt as he looked at his captain with a knowing quirk of his brow. “But since we’re here, maybe we can check out what this old ship has in its hold, huh?” Nathaniel looked to Mary and clapped his hands.

She frowned and put her hands on her hips. “Take your band of scavengers,” she pointed at him and circled to add his crew, “and pyromaniac ass and scram!”

“Nate, we’re steppin on some toes here,” the salamander beside him said and pointed to her ship.

Nathaniel looked to her ship, and his eyes brightened, and not from the fire around him.

He looked back to her and raised a set of brows, now growling behind his falling smirk, “Ms. Cash, I presume?”

His voice changing sent a shiver down her arms, and she tightened her jaw. She was not as threatening as Flint, but she lacked in size she made up for in fight. “In the flesh,” she smirked. “And you must be Nathanial Flint.”

She drummed her fingers against her thigh. Cadine pulled out her rapier and slowly moved to the deck hatch.

“It’s a shame,” she said. “I was hoping I wouldn’t shed more blood than I had too today.”

Flint narrowed his eyes and squared his feet. “Bones,” he glanced at the salamander. “Take care of the rest of this ship’s crew. I will handle Ms. Cash.”

Mary scowled, her hand grasping the hilt of her cutlass. “Cadine, secure the hold,” she ordered and pulled out her sword.

And all at once, three different crews began to fight. 

Cash slashed at Flint’s coat, a smug smirk plastered on her face. “Y’know,” she began, leaning back from Flint's pursuit, “When I heard tales of the young Nathaniel Flint, I expected him to be much more of a fighter.”

He smirked. “Really? I expected Mary Cash to be taller.”

Mary gawked and huffed, hitting Flint with her foot and kicking him behind her.

He whipped around and their swords rang once more. Mary lent her head forward, “I’m not short,” She mused. “I’m fun sized.”

“Oh, I’m sure plenty of men have had fun with you,” Flint rolled his eyes with a scoff.

She laughed and ducked, “Actually, it's their wives I have fun with.”

“Really?” He smirked and kicked a barrel towards her. “Then we have a lot more in common than I thought!”

“Save the sarcasm,” She sung. “There will be plenty of time for it when you’re spinning in the Strait.”

“Don’t give me attitude, dear,” Flint pushed her into a wall, blade at her throat, “I have one of my own.”

Mary smiled and shrugged, pushing his sword to the side with hers. Her fist collided with his snout, sending Flint shaking his head in shock.

“Didn’t your friend tell you? I don’t bark,” She scoffed and shook out her fist. “I bite.”

Flint eyed her with a playful grin, the two about to strike once more. 

The sound of a gun cocking halted their fun.

“Time’s up, pirates,” The captain of the merchant ship growled, blood covering his face, two out of three eyes busted and swollen. Two pistols were aimed at their heads, the hammer pulled back on each.

Mary frowned, “Hey, I thought I killed you.”

“You didn’t try hard enough,” He wheezed.

She shifted her jaw and raised a brow.

“Eh, works for me,” she shrugged and chopped off the hand holding the gun pointed towards her.

The captain shouted in pain and stumbled back. His severed hand and arm squirted out green blood, which Mary did not enjoy getting on her boots. She scoffed in disgust and lifted her boot.

“Can’t handle a little bit of blood, Cash?” Flint laughed and struck the captain's neck with his elbow, sending him to the deck.

“Blood, I like,” she shot him a glare. “Washing sludger’s blood out of leather? That’s not fun.”

Mary stood there for a second and ran her fingers through her hair. “Ugh, I need a shot,” she squeezed her eyes shut and cracked her neck. “Cads!”

The Sphinx looked up as she held back Bones with her middle pair of arms, “Aye?” She pushed him away and sat on his chest, knocking the breath out of him.

Mary exhaled sharply through her nose and shook her head with a smile. “Was there anything in there?”

“Nothing good!” Cadine said. “Already got Gallima and Martin to empty out the kitchen.”

Flint’s jaw dropped as he snapped to look at the simian and serpent throwing a crate of produce onto their galleon. “What?!”

Mary shrugged and gave him an innocent smirk as she pedaled backwards, “You snooze you lose.”

Flint groaned and turned, “Men! Set fire to the ship!”

“But capt’n-”

“Now, Bones!” 

Mary looked to her first mate, “Cadine! Prepare the ship for take off!” 

The sphinx nodded and galloped, kicking Bones in the chest before leaping back onto the pirate ship.

Flint and Mary caught each other’s eye when boarding their ships, and Mary smirked. “What a shame!” She shouted from the shroud. “I was hoping our little dance would last longer!”

Nathaniel took off his hat and bowed at the waist. “Trust me, Cash,” He called out, “This will not be our last encounter!”

Mary laughed, “Is that a threat?” She raised an eyebrow and smirked.

“Let's make it a bet!” Flint raised his hat. “If we do, I’ll buy you a drink!”

Cash laughed, “Deal!”

She turned, winking at him before jumping off the shroud. “Gars,” She shouted, “Take us away! Let’s check out what the rest of the Strait has to offer!”

The two ships parted ways quicker than a comet, only leaving a blazing merchant ship behind. 

But as they grew farther and farther apart, Nathaniel couldn’t help but glance back at the galleon as it disappeared into the gas clouds, and smiled.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Captain Nathaniel Flint did not just suddenly appear as the Etherium’s most feared and infamous pirate. In fact, half of The Loot of a Thousand Worlds was divided up in an unofficial prenup, and a fifth of that half was promised to the in-laws.  
> Stories last forever, and sometimes, so do the people who inspired those stories. From their first meeting to the implosion of Treasure Planet and everything in between, meet the man behind the legend. Who knows? You might learn something.

The Sycarian Strait wasn’t just any trade route. Formed by thick gas clouds and remnants of nebulas from long ago, the Strait, while a gorgeous sight, proved trouble for any spacer. The clouds spurred horrible winds and bursts of dust that would knock any ship out of commission, and few dared to make recurring trips in and out through the Strait.

Obviously, that made it perfect hunting grounds for pirates. It only helped that the only two ways in and out of the Strait were by Cardinal X-80, a bilge rat’s haven complete with taverns, ports, and clubs, and Gargariea, the empty shell of a dead star that couldn’t hold itself together.

Pirates didn’t have territory, but if there was ever an area that could have bore the Jolly Roger as its national flag, it would have been the Sycarian Strait. The gas funnel was perfect for hiding and darting between gas clouds, waiting for some unsuspecting trading ship to pass by so they could pounce, raid, burn, and repeat.

Mary tried to mix it up occasionally.

And that is why, at that moment, her and Cadine were running through the crowded markets of Cardinal X-80.

“You done it now, Cash!” A voice roared behind them.

“See? I told you!” Cadine yelled and leapt over a stack of barrels. “I told you that we can’t come back to Cardinal!”

“It’s not my fault he has a stick up his ass!” Mary yelled back.

She ducked under a deck of wood being carried by two workers. “Hey!”

“Sorry!” She yelled and grabbed Cadine’s arm and jumped into a building.

The door slammed behind them.

They ducked behind the walls, away from the door. It went quiet and the tavern patrons lowered their drinks.

“Come on!” The footsteps got louder, “They went this way!”

They held their breath. Mary’s mouth sealed shut. They could see the shadows run past the door. The footsteps grew fainter, but she wouldn’t press her luck, not like last time.

A mandible faced multi eyed humanoid leaned back in his chair and peeked out the window. “They’re gone,” he laughed and looked back to Mary and Cadine.

They let out a big breath. “Phew!” Mary panted. “I thought we were dead for a second there.”

The tavern chuckled and the patrons returned to drinking and chattering. “Here, come get a drink,” the bartender, a ten armed reptilian with big bug-like eyes who was already grabbing two glasses, called from behind the bar. “I’m sure the Senate has been giving you a rough time as it is.”

Mary and Cadine sighed and relaxed. They took their own seats, three large men scooting away to give them room. She knew these men, not by name, but they had done business with her old captain years ago. She remembered a night where she was drinking here, like she did many nights, and they were all gossiping about the uppity man. He wasn’t from a place of privilege, but he had certainly acted like it. Attitude like that got you nowhere on Cardinal. 

“Thanks,” Mary said and nodded to the crystal bottle of amber whiskey to the bartenders right.

He reached for it and looked to Cadine.

“Rum,” she said. “A shot of vodka, too.”

“Mm, long day?”

“Long?” Mary snorted, “It’s only noon! We still got an entire day to rile up the port!”

The bar rattled in laughter and Mary took the glass from the bartender.

“Haven’t reached your adrenaline quota yet, Cash?” An ursid asked from a nearby table.

“Please,” she snorted with a smirk. “Lieutenant Finn is just pissed that his wife likes me more than his little johnson.”

Cadine elbowed her with a stern look, and Mary mouthed “what” with confusion. She grunted and smacked her shoulder. “Stop,” Cadine whispered.

“Oh, so you’re the one that’s got the bluebacks all over the place,” the bartender smirked.

“Maybe, maybe not,” Mary looked up and took a sip of whiskey with a grin. The heat reached her ears and flushed her face, settling the rising tightness in her stomach, chest, and throat. It felt good, relaxing her throat, reminding her to loosen her jaw. 

The woman next to her laughed and raised her glass in her twelve fingered hand slightly in a mock toast, “Oh Cash, never change. You’re the only source of amusement out here.”

“That’s our job,” she said, “entertain others while risking ourselves.”

Cadine rolled her eyes while shaking her head and took a ship. She was scanning the tavern and her eyes glanced at the door for a split second and widened before she swatted Mary’s arm. “Huh?” Mary screwed her brows together. Cadine nodded to the door.

She turned to look. Mary’s face paled and reddened at the same time. “Turn, turn!” She hissed, turning Cadine’s head forcefully.

The door closed behind Flint and his first mate, Billy Bones, as they walked into the tavern. Flint’s red hair was tied back into a low ponytail, a few strands straying away from his face as he talked to Bones without any care for his surroundings.

She only barely turned her head to look at him from the corner of her eye, straining to watch him without getting caught. She watched as he and Bones sat down at a table, laughing and talking casually. Flint’s snout had a mark where Mary had punched him, a dark brown bruise, that he almost seemed to be proud of, and did he polish his teeth?

“I didn’t expect him here,” Mary turned back and murmured.

“Why don’t you go over there and ask him for that drink he promised?” Cadine smirked maliciously and leaned towards her.

“What?!” Her face grew red. “No!”

“Oh come on!” Cadine grinned and leaned closer. “Its a free drink!”

“Absolutely not.”

“Why not?”

She tightened her lip more and the smirk on Cadine’s face grew.

“You think he’s cute, don’t you?”

“What? No! I...well,” she grabbed her drink and swung her head back, downing the entire glass of whiskey. She set the glass down hard and glared at Cadine’s cocky grin. “I hate you,” she pointed her finger.

She raised a brow and smirked as she sipped her drink and turned her head to face the wall.

Mary huffed and drummed her fingers against the counter, now in a huff as the bartender refilled her glass.

Meanwhile, Flint and Bones sat at their table, laughing about their latest raid on a senate ship carrying large sums of solar thread, which would sell high on the market.

Flint kicked his boots up on the table and reclined back in his chair with his hands behind his head. He sighed in content and relaxed into the chair as Billy talked about the time he had nearly been killed by a lass he had slept with. 

He cracked his neck and snickered at Billy’s comment. “Okay, but to be fair,” he opened two eyes, “it _was_ your fault for thinking that sleeping with a half mantid was a good idea.

Bones held up his hands, “How was I supposed to know she would have slit my throat after?”

“It’s in the name! They’re called HeadSlashers!”

“Yeah, I was expecting for her to try to stab me in the face, I didn’t think she would go for my throat!”

“I ain’t saying you were being stupid,” Flint grinned, “but you were being stupid.”

Bones groaned and dropped his head to the table.

Flint rolled his eyes with a smirk and took a sip of his rum. The tavern was rather crowded, and unlike the other bars that were filled with drunk men and women ready to gouge out said men’s eyes, this one was quiet. Older merchants, sailors and townspeople gathered here instead of the more popular bars to get away from the noise, favoring this chill tavern as their local haunt instead of the craziness on the other side of town.

Flint wasn’t necessarily new to the area, per say, but his new reputation expected him to be among the other crew members, sleeping around and getting far too drunk for his taste. He wasn’t like that. Any moment he could afford to take it slow, he appreciated. The thrill of the raid was nice, but a moment to stop and smoke was far more valuable than a thousand pieces of credits.

He was just scanning the room over when he did a double take. A mess of white hair caught his eye and the woman’s head turned slightly to talk to her first mate beside her. Her short hair was out of order, like she had just rolled out of the cot, and the shaved parts of her hair needed a shave, but combined with her stern little pout and kinked up nose, Mary’s unexpected appearance at the local tavern made Flint’s week. She looked to be in a laid back conversation with the sphinx beside her, nursing on a glass of alcohol.

“Hey, Bones,” he reached over and nudged him, chair landing on the floor. “Bones! Stop being depressed!”

He huffed and grabbed him by the bandana around his head and yanked his head up. “Look!”

Billy looked up. His tired eyes lit up and he leaned on his elbow. “Great, it’s Cash,” he huffed. “What’s she doing here?”

“Obviously she has taste,” Flint said.

Billy hummed, “Uh huh, sure.” He leaned back in his chair and reached to a poster that had blown in through the door. He looked at it and scoffed. “Look at this, Nate.”

Flint looked back to him and frowned at the wanted poster with Mary’s face on it. The picture was missing the eyebrow scar Mary now sported, and she was looking over her shoulder while flipping her finger at whoever was chasing her at that moment. Above her head it said WANTED in big stamped letters. Below it listed out all her crimes, or whatever crimes they thought she committed. They were all what he expected. Except one.

He did a double take.

“Hey!” He snatched the poster and read through the crimes. “What the hell?!”

“Oh hey, you saw it,” Billy sipped his rum.

“Why are they pinning the arson on Cash?” Flint hissed.

“Because Cash has been doin this for a while, Nate,” Billy sighed and put his glass down. “I mean, shit, I know we’ve been smuggling for ten years now, but burning ships and smuggling steel isn’t news. _Cash_ burning ships? That gets more people talking.”

Flint stared at him and crumbled up the paper. “Come on.” His chair scraped the floor as he stood up and Bones followed behind.

He fixed his shirt as he approached the pair, taking the time to walk slowly up to them.

He didn’t expect Mary to immediately notice him and spin on her stool.

“Didn’t I say we’d see each other again?” He smirked and leaned against the bar between Mary and another patron.

She twisted around and looked between him and Bones with surprise. “Flint,” her voice went flat, “didn’t expect to see you here.” She glanced to Cadine and she smirked, urging her on.

“I gotta say, I’m surprised, too,” he said and faced her directly. His mind went blank as he looked at her face and just lost all train of thought, caught up in her fluffy hair and quirk of her lips. “I….didn’t think a classy lady such as yourself would bother with Cardinal.”

She scoffed and waved him off. “Please, you flatter me.” She grabbed her glass and swallowed the rest of her drink.

His mouth revealed a slight smile and he pulled over a stool. “Well, a bet’s a bet. Lemme buy you a drink.”

“I’m not stopping you,” she smirked.

Billy smacked his face. He really did just forget why he came over, didn’t he? “Dammit, Nate,” he whispered.

Flint turned to the bartender, “Two more drinks for these ladies.” He turned his head back to Cash to wink and he leaned forwards on his elbows.

“So,” he clicked his tongue, “what business do you have on this shit hole?”

Mary took her second glass and shrugged. “What every other spacer does out here,” she said. “Restin’, waitin’, wastin’ time.”

She raised the glass to her scarred lips and took a long sip, mostly to calm the nerves she locked down so she could get through the conversation, and let the heat swirl in her ears.

Flint watched her lips grow wet and throat bob with all six eyes as she swallowed and released a satisfied hiss.

“What about you?” She asked and set her glass down. He perked up. “What’s a scoundrel like you doing in a nice place like this?”

The bartender, and other patrons, were listening to the conversation, biting their lips to hold in their laughter as they waited for Cash to do what Cash does.

Flint rubbed the back of his neck with a light chuckle, “The crew was getting rowdy. Lettin em drink till they pass out seemed like the best option. Otherwise, my ship would be on fire instead.”

She snorted and propped her face on her hand. “And, what? You just happened to be in the neighborhood?”

“There isn’t another port worth anyone’s time from here to XR12,” Flint scoffed.

She raised her brows as she took another drawn out sip.

Bones glared behind Mary at Cadine, who was watching the conversation and nursing her vodka infused rum. Something was up.

“It’s been a bit,” Flint said. “How’ve you been?”

“Eh,” she shrugged, “hm, can’t complain. How’s setting ships on fire going for ya?” Mary asked. She swirled the ice around in her glass.

Flint drew out his words with a smooth tongue, “Oh, well, if you consider finding out that you claimed _my_ raids “going well”, I’ve been doing _great_.”

She snickered, nose scrunching up and eyes creasino at the corners. “Is that what this is about?” She snorted. “I don’t burn ships. Never have.”

Flint looked at his claws. “No, but people think you did,” he said and raised a brow. “And I can’t have _that_ getting around. Ruins my reputation, y’know?”

“Hey, don’t blame me!” She raised her hands, smiling from ear to ear. “It ain’t my fault the senate thinks I’m a lot more of a bitch than I actually am!”

“And what reputation?” Cadine smirked. “You mean that little paper slip? Oo, watch out, seems like someone lost their pet. Oh no, wait, it’s just Nathan trying to make a name for himself.”

The tavern was now focused entirely on them.

Flint frowned. “You’re one to talk,” he said. “What are you two known for, again? Making your shitty captain dance with Jack Ketch? Oh, good for you, everyone was already thinking of it, you just did it first.”

“Damn right, I did, that’s why I have a warrant for my arrest in the first place,” she stuck her tongue out.

“Cheeky little bitch,” he bared his teeth in a scary looking smirk.

“Oo, I’m so offended,” she smirked right back and slammed her hand on the counter, leaning in. “C’mon, you can do better than that.”

“Oh, I could, but I don’t want to help you get around even more.”

Mary’s nose twitched. Bones crossed his arms and smirked. Cadine shot him a glare, he stuck his tongue out at her.

Mary shifted in her stool, rolling back her shoulders.

“Well, maybe if you actually paid attention, Flint-“

She raised a small leather pouch.

His eyes widened and his hand smacked his hip. His belt was missing.

Mary gave a big grin, “-you’d see that I get around just fine _without_ your help.”

_Click_

All six eyes were now looking down the barrel of a pistol.

“Thanks for the drink,” Mary smiled cheerfully, “I look forward to our next meeting, Flint.”

The tavern erupted in laughter. They were all waiting for it to happen, and it did.

Mary winked and shot a finger gun at him as her and Cadine sprinted for the door. 

“How the hell?!” Flint jumped to his feet.

“She fucking nabbed your credits?!” Bones smacked his upside the head.

“When did she fucking reach over?!”

“I don’t know!”

“Damn, she’s good,” Flint looked at the door with a grin.

“Seriously?!”

“Come on!” Flint started out the door.

Her boots scraped against the cobblestone as she turned. 

“Hah!” Mary barked, “Did you see his face?”

“Yeah, let’s just hope he doesn’t catch up,” Cadine took another sharp corner.

Mary ducked under lines of cloth and sheets. Boxes smashed into walls behind her. She briefly looked over her shoulder. 

“Aw, shit!” She laughed, “Look who joined the party!”

Flint chased after them alongside Billy, his hair flying behind him. “Give me that back!”

She grinned and raised the pouch. “You want it?” 

If Flint wanted to come at her, then she was going to give him an absolute run for his money. Literally.

“Come and get it!”

She and Cadine bumped knuckles, and went opposite directions.

“Bones, go after the sphinx, I’ve got Cash!” Flint said as he hurdled the boxes Cadine shoved over.

Bones went one way, barreling further down the alleys. Flint went the other, towards the tents and tarps of the merchant place.

Mary’s rapid footsteps were drowned out by the growing crowds. She was small, and could go unnoticed so easily. She dove between a gap in the traffic. “Move, move, move, move,” she repeated.

“Hey, watch it!”

“Sorry,” she ducked under a moving cart. Feet and hooves and claws and suction cups passed her left and right. She kept under the cart. 

She looked at the pouch and tied it to her belt. This brought up many memories of pickpocketing and running from the small time cops back home, when all she was in trouble for was vandalism and beating up creeps.

She still did that, but, now, everything has higher stakes.

She would die if she got caught now.

She jumped at the next opening and wedged herself between the smallest sliver between buildings and trash. It was a tight squeeze, curse her broad shoulders, and reminding herself to do some more ab work to keep this from happening again, she shifted and shuffled out of the alley, popping out with a huff.

“Fuck,” she popped her shoulders and stretched. “That was _not_ fun.”

Mary snapped back up at the sound of heavy footsteps. She could see his long snouted shadow on a far off wall.

Dammit. She looked left and right. The closest escape, where was that? Her eyes flicked up. She snapped a band of her wrist with a pinch to her wrist, and held it in her mouth. “Alright,” she murmured and tied her hair into a bun. “C’mon.”

She jumped. Her fingers locked on the edge of a shingle, and like a cat, she pulled herself to her feet just as Flint stopped below her.

“Face it, Flint!” She shouted behind her with a grin. Her feet tapped on the shingles and she leapt to another roof. “You can’t beat me! I’m three steps ahead!”

His face appeared right in front of her.

“Gah!” Shingles blew off the roofs as she slid to a halt. She could feel her heart thrumming in her chest.

Flint smirked, “Your three steps barely even make up one of mine, Cash.”

Oh, that was annoying. 

Mary’s lower lip slipped out in a pout and she kinked up her nose. “That’s not fair!” She shouted. “You’re, like, six feet tall!”

His mouth opened in offense and he barked, “I’m seven foot! Seven foot flat!”

“With or without the pumps!” She glanced down and back up at his boots, now smirking.

“They aren’t pumps!”

“Whatever!”

“Well,” He spluttered for words, “you need your own pair of heels! Now give me back my credits before I take your snark and put it up on the top shelf!”

“No, fuck you!”

“Fuck you too!”

“Fuck me yourself, coward!”

They both humphed and glared at each other.

Mary was just about to make another retort. Her back tensed. She jumped out of her skin and ducked before the noise even reached their ears.

Flint yelled out and Mary turned to the streets, both clenching their jaws. The street was lined with blue coated soldiers, holding rifles, pistols, and swords.

“Oh shit,” she swallowed. She yelled too loud.

“There you are, Cash!” The one she knew as Lieutenant Finn aimed once more.

“Fuck!” They both scrambled for purchase on the shingles. The next bullet rang in the air and chipped clay from the tiles, barely missing Flint’s shoulder by an inch as they fell to the ground.

Mary rolled to the ground and snatched Flint by the wrist. He yelped from how hard she yanked him, “Come on, we’ve got to go!”

“Wait, what!”

They broke crates and palettes in their path, blocking their trail, only for the wood to be trampled by soldiers. Her hand kept Flint tight in her grasp. The streets just grew more and more crowded.

She wasn’t polite. “Move!” She snapped. She shoved into a large alien, who fell into another, and knocked a cart of produce over. Fruits rolled on the streets and were crushed to a pulp.

She looked over her shoulder.

Flint kept looking back behind him, to the soldiers who were now struggling to get through the traffic and chaos. She laughed and kept running.

“Come on, hurry up,” She pushed him in front of her.

“Out of the way, out of the way, out of the way, MOVE!” Flint threw people aside. He pulled his wrist out of her hand. Another blast skimmed his side. “What the hell did you do to piss him off?!”

“I slept with his wife,” Mary scrambled down a ladder. The canal had no water, but there were puddles.

“You did?” Flint grinned. “So did I!”

“Hah! You gotta love Mrs. Finn!” Mary grinned. They sprinted down the canal, laughing all the way down.

“Get back here!” Finn shouted from the streets, stopping at the ladder.

Mary spun to blow a raspberry and cackled.

“Suck it, Finn!” Flint shouted.

“Jinx, you owe me a shot!” She elbowed him.

“What?! No!”

“Yes!”

“No!”

A blast skimmed Mary’s foot. She jumped with a yelp and tripped over her feet. Her feet were starting to hurt. Quick, she panted through clenched teeth, where was the closest hide?

“Do you know where the boat house is?” Mary asked over the gunfire.

“The one near Shastka’s?” He grinned. “Like the back of my hand!”

An idea popped into his head. He looked at her and his grin grew more.

“Hey!” He shouted, “You want to show these mutton shunting ratbags how it’s done?”

She grinned back with narrowed eyes.

They hurried to the end of the canal, taking back to the streets. The ports were close by, bustling quietly with sailors.

Most dropped cargo at the sight of, not only Mary Cash, but Nathaniel Flint, barreling onto the docks with excited and terrified faces. “You might wanna duck!” Flint yelled as he passed. They looked weirdly at him, before they dropped and ducked behind crates to avoid the blasts

The boat house, a large but old warehouse, was just in front of them. There were several sailors in the warehouse, rolling barrels under hanging ships.

“Xarac!” Flint yelled. A four armed man turned his head and immediately leapt for a musket.

“Captain, what did you do?!” The tall grey alien screamed.

“Don’t look at me, look at her!” Flint hurdled and ducked behind a crate.

Mary ran and slammed her back against the crate next to his and they both fumbled for their flintlocks.

“Wait, is that Mary fucking Cash?!” Another pirate asked.

“Nate, where’s Bill?!”

“Bones is fine, I promise,” Flint was smiling and out of breath as he looked over the crate. His flintlock charged and he aimed.

“Pfft, please,” Mary pulled back the crank on her own gun. “Cadine is probably using him as a punching bag!”

“Your sphinx is a bitch!”

“Well your first mate is a wus!”

She turned and aimed. “Hey Finn!”

He looked up from his cover.

“Suck on this!” She grinned.

The blast put a hole through Finn’s turned over dinghy he was using for cover.

“Ah damn! I missed!”

“How can you miss his big fat head?” Flint said. “It’s like the size of an ursid!”

She shoved him and fired again.

It turned into a shootout. Laser fire came from all sides. The sailors caught in the middle ran to their ships or the crates, ducking away from the fight. Mary crawled into the boat house, taking shelter behind the wall rather than the crates. She cranked back her gun once more. Flint’s crew, or at least part of it, joined the fight with muskets and pistols.

She turned her head. Finn was now behind a fishing vessel.

She pulled the trigger with one hand on the crank.

“What a time to not have Gallima,” she groaned. Finn ducked and then shot.

“Tell me about it,” Flint rolled his eyes and fired again. “I could really use some of my gunners right now.”

“Xarac!” He barked and squeezed his eyes shut. “How far did you get on the barrels?”

“Half of em!” He shouted back.

“Barrels?” Mary questioned.

He looked at her and shrugged. “I ain’t called a pyromaniac for nothing.”

She stared at him with a look that read “What the fuck.”

“Do you want us to blow em up?” One of his crew members asked.

“Not while we’re in the boat house, idiot!” He snapped around.

A barrel exploded outside, his eyes wide and mouth taught.

“Oops,” one of his guys lowered his gun. “Sorry, cap’n.”

Mary poked her head up. “Wait,” she said, “do we have anymore more of those outside?”

Nathaniel looked to Xarac.

“Uh...yeah,” Xarac shrugged. “There’s an entire stack out there.”

Mary turned and hid behind the wall. She squinted. Close to the end of the pier there was a stack of six barrels.

She raised her gun and shot at the bottom one.

“Never mind,” Xarac huffed as the explosion threw ten soldiers into the air.

The soldiers across the pier coughed and wheezed. The smoke clouded in the air, only lit up by the now hazy laser fire. Finn was thrown out onto the planks. He coughed, face covered in gunpowder and soot. His hat next to him, he pushed himself up and turned to the sound of footsteps on wood.

Two shadows slowly appeared from the smoke, eight eyes narrowed at him.

“Ugh, great,” Finn raised his head and growled. “Of _course_ you two had to meet.”

Flint crossed his arms, staring down at him from his turned up nose. Mary aimed her flintlock at him with the crank pulled back all the way.

“Okay, Finn,” She smirked, “strip.”

Xarac shuffled back with the last yards of rope unraveling from his arms and hopped behind a stack of crates.

“You’re seriously blowing up the boathouse?” Mary asked. She was leaning up on the nearest wall, arms crossed and a foot kicked up on the wall behind her.

“Yeah, why not?” Flint said and lit a match. He looked at her and smirked, raising a brow.

He bowed at the waist and held out the match, “After you.”

She scoffed and took it, their fingers briefly touching with a spark. Mary stopped at the line stretching all the way down the pier, past the post with the now tied up and half naked arcturian, and wound into the boathouse.

With a snicker and shake of her head, smiling at how ridiculous this was, she dropped the match onto the oil soaked rope.

There was a long hiss, followed by a loud boom that shook the pier, the port, and half of the town.

They were laughing all the way back to town, covered in soot and dirt. The bar was just as loud with pirates and music and fights.

Cadine and Bones sat at the bar, both beaten and bruised, Bones with a blackened eye, Cadine with a busted nose, and both with sour faces as they glared at the wall with drinks in hands.

Mary and Flint dropped onto the stools on both sides of Cadine and Bones. They smelled like smoke, looked like trash, but were cackling all the same.

“Woof, what happened to you?” Mary jeered, raising a brow.

The two first mates looked at each other and took a big gulp of their rum.

“Hey! Drinks on me tonight!” Mary shouted. The entire bar rioted in cheers.

She patted Cadine’s back, getting a sharp flinch from her before getting up, taking a shot, and starting for the door. “Come on, let’s go find the crew.”

“What, leaving already?” Flint followed her with his eyes and turned to watch her leave with a grin.

“Yeah,” She walked backwards out the door. “I gotta figure out how to spend all my newly earned money.”

She raised the pouch she still had and waved it.

Bones smashed his head against the counter. Flint choked on his rum.

“Hey, no! Wait-ARRRGH! CASH GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE!” He chased her out the door, and she took off running.

Cadine stopped, watched them run for a second, before turning back into the bar and ordering several more drinks.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Captain Nathaniel Flint did not just suddenly appear as the Etherium’s most feared and infamous pirate. In fact, half of The Loot of a Thousand Worlds was divided up in an unofficial prenup, and a fifth of that half was promised to the in-laws.  
> Stories last forever, and sometimes, so do the people who inspired those stories. From their first meeting to the implosion of Treasure Planet and everything in between, meet the man behind the legend. Who knows? You might learn something.

Sometimes, he wasn’t sure if he was doing what he was supposed to be doing.

Flint watched the clouds of gas and stars swirled and moved past him. The Harpy was a small ship, quicker than the larger variety. But still, a ship of any gargantuan size will always feel small and minuscule, like an ant to a boot, when in the view of space.

Some just accepted their smallness. He didn’t want to.

“Hey, Nate!”

He turned and raised one brow while furrowing the others. It was Bones. “Yeah, Bill? What is it?”

Bones crossed his arms and leant against a mast, “We’re passing Triton-6, ya wanna stop for a break?”

He thought. “Hm, a’ight,” he nodded. “Boys need a break. We’ve been sailing for a whiles now.”

Bones nodded and barked out the orders. The wind began kicking up. They just entered a current.

Hair flew and stuck to Flint’s face, getting tangled in his crests and teeth. He gagged and spluttered. He spit the hair out and groaned. He would cut it if he was any less respectful. Flint reached around and started tying up his hair, hair tie caught between his teeth as Bones walked up the small steps.

“We got a smugglin deal back down on Z12,” he said, leaning against the taffrail. “Paying us 200 credits, wanna take it?”

“Hm? Nah,” he snapped the band and lowered his hands from his now thrown up hair. “Last time we took a smuggling deal that cheap, we ended up being chased by the Senate.”

Flint went back to looking over the edge, arms crossed over the taff rail, staring out at the dust clouds and currents.

Bones frowned and raised a brow with heavy eyes, “Nate? You good?”

“Aye,” he sighed, “just tired, Bill.”

He hummed and nodded his head. “Yeah, I get it,” he shrugged. “Xarac was complaining about the change in pressure, must be gettin to everyone.”

“Solar storm?”

“It’s supposed to be hitting tomorrow morn.”

“Hm, think we should camp out on Triton then?”

Bones shrugged. “Whatever you wanna do, cap’n.”

He hummed and nodded. A break sounded nice. Solar storms were trouble to sail through anyways, he didn’t want to waste the energy on driving through that kind of mess.

Yet still, beneath the plans and ideas, mapping out the Strait and figuring out problems, a small voice in his head kept pulling him towards another thought.

“Hey, Bill,” Nate spoke up, not moving.

“Yeah?”

“I was thinkin-“

“Well that’s never good.”

He shot the cheeky bastard a half hearted glare at the boyish grin and bright eyes.

He shook his head and went back to staring into the starry abyss, and his nerves spiked. “As I was sayin, I was thinkin…like, about Cash...what if we-“

“No, Nate,” Bones cut him off. “We ain’t gonna mess with Cash.”

“But-“

“Mate, you could barely handle her on Cardinal! You couldn’t deal with her on the daily.”

He snapped around and puffed out his chest, “I could too!”

Billy laughed. “She ran circles around you!”

“Did not!”

“Did too!” Bones crossed his arms over his chest and bent down to look at him. “While you were over here making goo-goo eyes at her, she made off with the money your sister gave ya!”

Flint put his hands on his hips and said with a stubborn pout, “I wadn’t...making _goo-goo eyes_ or whatever the fuck you said.”

“Uh huh, sure,” Billy clicked his tongue and smirked.

He glared at him again and Billy only gave him a big grin.

“Shut up!” He shoved him, making Billy only start laughing.

“Come on, you like her!”

“At least I didn’t get beat up by a Sphinx!”

“You weren’t the one put into a headlock by a 300 pound wench!”

The whistle blew just as they had started wrestling, and all eight eyes perked up to the crows nest.

“Cap’n!” His man Bryan Talenski, the barrelman, leaned out of the tub and pointed, “We have a problem!”

Flint stood and he flicked his mind’s switch from captain OFF to captain ON. He was heavy footed as he made it to the main deck and pulled out his flintlock. “What is it, Bryan?”

“Senate! Coming up broadside off the port bow!”

He snapped around and hurried to the other side of the ship. There, as he squinted, he could see the big white and blue flags of a single empirical heavy escort. Heavy escorts never came in single numbers.

“Why is it alone?” He murmured. “Bones, why is it alone?”

Billy hurried down and held his hand over his eyes. “Shit, escorts are never alone.”

“Men, look out for more ships,” Flint ordered. “There must be a barge near by!”

He glared at the approaching cutter, its clean bright sails shimmering from light and winds.

He held up his hand as Xarac approached. “Don’t put up the colors just yet,” he said, “we don’t know why they’re here.”

“But, cap’n-“

“Wait,” he ordered again.

He was suddenly aware of all sides of his ship. In the entire circumference of his ship, there were no other ships to be seen except for this one cutter. It felt wrong. It wasn’t right. There should have been three or more. Why was this one alone?

Why was it heading towards them?

“Captain, do ye want us to ready the cannons?” The short, orange furry oragian asked, large hairy arms holding up the hold grate so it didn’t fall on his head.

“Not yet, Bern,” Flint said, eyeing the ship suspiciously. “...Actually, be on guard. This might turn out messy.”

“Aye, cap.”

He walked along the edge of the ship. A blue coated soldier appeared on the deck of the escort and waved.

“Morning, sailors,” they said over the expanse between them.

“Morn,” Flint yelled back, furrowing his brow.

“Headin towards Triton?” The captain of the senate ship asked.

“Aye.”

“That storm, huh?”

He nodded, his hand tightening on his gun.

“Are ya traders?”

Flint opened his mouth, but Bones beat his tongue to the holler.

“Aye, merchants,” Bones said, grabbing one of the lines and propping himself on the outer railing with one foot.

“Might wanna avoid the main docks then!” Another man on the other ship, a canid, shouted. “There’s a backwater port on the other side of the satellite, you should dock there!”

“Blue coated bastards have locked all the big ports down!” Another sailor said.

Bones and Flint looked to each other in confusion. “Why?” Flint asked just as the escort turned parallel to them, but in the opposite direction. 

“Trying to catch an arsonist,” the captain said. “Been costing them money, burning down ships and cargo. Been chargin anybody within a clicks radius a big shitty fine.”

“I thought that was Cash?” Flint humored.

“Cash don’t burn ships,” the captain said.

“Wait, ain’t you Senate?” Xarac asked from the rigging.

The captains face soured, and sneered before turning back to his ship, “Fuck the Senate.”

Those words rang in his head as they docked. 

The port was shady, a few iron cleats bolted to three dock ends, where his ship was currently made fast. It wasn’t too far from the main port, they’d be able to walk, but it was still far enough from the blue backs’ eye.

_Fuck the Senate._

“Ya ever hear of folks desertin the Senate?” Flint asked Xarac, who walked beside them as they trudged up the hill to the buildings beyond.

“Not here in the Strait,” Xarac answered, looking down. Xarac stood three heads taller than Flint, but he was lanky, not as solid or built as him. Perfect for rigging and climbing the ropes, and being an overall dick during battles. “But back over near Procyon territory, it happened all the time.”

“It’s cause yer farther away from those blue lobsters all the way out there,” Bern spoke up just beside Xarac, smoking a cigar with his hands in his pockets. “Ye don’t hear much of it here, we be too close to that big ole porting planet, Zerim.”

“In the Strait, it’s easia,” one of his other crewmen, Zonny, said from behind. “Same reason why us pirates be so common, see? Too many places to hide.”

“Oh right,” Flint looked over his shoulder at him, “you’re from here, aren’t ya, Zonny?”

“Born and raised, cap’n,” he winked his three eyes on the left side of his face with a click of his tongue.

His crew was small, that much was true, but it was still larger than what was needed to manage his ship. So it surprised some of the other travelers at the port to see so many pirates arrive on one small ship. Flint heard Bones describe it as a “clown cart,” while Xarac joked that they multiplied like rodents the moment they stepped off the ship.

More hands were better than having to double the tasks for each head, and Flint would stand by that consistently.

As they split up, him, Bones, Xarac, and Bern turned for a sleepy tavern near the edge of town. “Perfect for escapes” Flint said.

He ordered a thing of rum...and a glass of whiskey on the rocks.

He put the whiskey next to him and swung his head back with a slosh of the rum.

“Ah,” he hissed and raised the bottle, “bless the void for rum's existence!”

“Don’t bless that empty waste,” Bones elbowed him in the side. “What’s it got to do with it?”

“Hey, mate,” he shrugged, “it’s a saying, Imma use it.”

Bones laughed and shoved him. He shoved him back.

Xarac chugged his shot of steaming grey sludge, hissing and licking his lips. “I hope somebody gets an inn,” he said, slamming the metal shot cup on the counter and passing it for a refill. “I’m tired of the cots.”

“Hey, those cots were expensive!” Flint pointed a claw at him.

“Expensive my ass!” Xarac snatched the next shot. “You got them from a shitty whores house!”

“For more than you paid that chick, so what’s that saying?”

Their humored argument blew up into a shouting match. Who could talk loudest. Bern bet Flint, Bones bet Xarac, and it went on and on, even other tavern members joining in and buying drinks.

The tavern noise stopped abruptly at the sound of a hinge squeak.

Heads turned towards several blue coated soldiers, gold and white thread embroidered on the seams and cuffs. The empirical pins were fastened to their lapels alongside the large gold buttons.

Flint’s shoulders went from loose to tense, the switch flipping.

Everyone glared at the senate soldiers, glasses lowering.

They didn’t seem to care, they just laughed among themselves as they sat at a table. One, the one with the golden epaulettes signifying his higher rank, kicked up his dirty ass boots onto the table and leaned back. “Oy!” He shouted at the bartender, “four beers!”

The bartender narrowed her eyes and tightened her lip into a line.

The other 3 soldiers seemed to notice the rising tension in the room, and looked around to see all the eyes on them.

“What’s a couple of blue backs doing this far inta town?” A splotchy and large Terran asked, furrowing his brows so far that his one blind eye was nearly shadowed.

The captain looked up and locked eyes with Flint.

Flint sneered and narrowed his eyes at him, and moved his sash out of the way of his saber.

“Hey now,” he raised his arms with an all too cocky grin, “no malice here. Me and the boys just want a drink! Besides, we’re all terranites, aren’t we?”

The guy had no scars, shaggy short hair the color of muddy sand, a chipped front tooth, and dusted freckles all over his pale dirty skin.

Flint growled and turned away, his mood now soured. His turning away gave word that no, a fight was not about to happen, and the other patrons turned away as well, the once loud and excited bar now hushed and irritated.

“Ugh, of course there's gotta be Senate fucks here,” Bones growled and sipped his rum.

“Let’s just leave,” Bern was still side eyeing them with a sneer of disgust.

“Nah,” Flint shrugged, “the rum’s good ere, besides,” he slid the bartender eight silver coins, and she happily pocketed them and gave him a hushed sigh of thanks before going to give the soldiers their drinks, “they might leave soon.”

Xarac rolled his eyes at the sound of one of the soldiers attempting to flirt with the large eyed yellow woman, who just hurried back behind her bar.

Flint sneered at them and looked back at her. “They makin you uncomfortable?” He asked, keeping a pair of eyes on them. “Cause we can go kick em out if ya-“

“No, no,” the once tough xenetian shook her head and sighed, “it’s fine. They’re like this, I just gotta...deal with it.”

He hummed and crossed his arms over the counter, “How often do they come in?”

“Three times a week,” she said. “They’re jackasses, but I can’t kick em out. They-“ She glanced back at them and sneered with jagged discolored teeth, “they don’t ever pay. Last time I tried to kick em out for it, the blonde one made a show of destroying my entire rum stock.”

Heat gathered in Flint’s chest and he growled. He sealed his lips shut so it didn’t come out as loud as it could’ve.

“Ain’t that illegal?” Bones asked in concern.

“Who am I going to tell? The senate?” She scoffed. “It’s better just to ignore them.”

Flint looked at the floor and scrunched up his face. He knew what she meant. One wrong move, one wrong word, and the senate could ruin your entire life. It didn’t matter if they were wrong, if you were right, if others supported you, or if you were just a kid on the streets trying to find your sisters, if you weren’t rich, if you weren’t born with a crystal spoon in your mouth and servants (slaves more like it) at your every cry and coo, you didn’t get even a second glance, he’ll, you never even got a look to begin with. You are worth nothing.

Even those snotty and black head covered pomps aren’t seen as anything more than puppets.

He’d usually be happy to beat a blue back to a pulp, but if the bartender didn’t want any trouble, he wasn’t about to start any.

So, he chose to listen.

All of his eyes focused on the quartet of soldiers, their table on his right, pressed into the corner near one of the long oval windows. He sipped his rum, rapping his talons on the counter.

“God, I miss having a nice ass next to me in bed,” one of the soldiers groaned. “You can’t beat waking up to that in the morning.”

“You wouldn’t know a nice ass if a feline was rubbing hers all over your cold cock,” the captain snorted. Flint felt rising disgust in his throat and stomach. He curled his claws into his palm, using every bit of will in his body to keep himself from pouring that alcohol in the bastards hands down his throat and throwing a match down it.

He kept listening. He was still partly paying attention to Bill, who was talking around him to Xarac, something about a new ship engine.

A name caught his ear, made his crests flare up.

“How about that Cash, huh? She’s got a nice little ass on her.”

It was like a record scratched in his ears and all of his attention was now on those soldiers on his right.

“Mm, probably has some nice tits, too.”

“Please,” one that hadn’t been talking scoffed, “she’s wild.”

The captain chuckled lowly, “It’d be fun to rein her in like a perusian bronco.”

“Probably scream like one, too,” the other soldier smirked nastily. His teeth were mucked up and crooked. He wanted to pull every last one of them out until he looked like the suckers on the bottom of galactic whales.

The captain barked out a laugh and slammed his cup of beer on his table, making the bartender jump. “All she needs is a good fucking, is what I say! I could make that woman go crawling back to the empire, just give me a night and a shitty inn!”

Bones was trying to get his attention. He snarled.

“And if she puts up a fight?”

“Fuck, I’d just keep her tied up to the bed like the little rope slut she is-“

“Hey!”

The tavern snapped to Flint, standing up, hair now flared out and wild. All six eyes were locked on the blonde Terran, glowing bright yellow. He crossed his arms and shifted his weight to one leg and popped his hip out. “Didn’t yer mother’s ever tell you that ya shouldn’t talk about a woman when she ain’t here to defend herself?”

The captain turned in his chair and sneered, “What’s it to ya, mutt?”

“I was just thinkin,” he looked at his claws, smothering the heat in his face with cold calculated snark, “if that’s how you talk about our sisters, mothers and cousins, how have you not been beaten silly?”

The four shot glares at him. “Is that a threat?” The captain asked.

“No, see, a threat would be something like this:” Flint raised a brow, “Say one more foul word about Ms. Cash and I will tear out your tongue and send it to her as a present. See? _That’s_ a threat.”

“Calhoun, lay off it,” the bartender said firmly as the Terran stood up.

Calhoun approached like the largest cock on the farm, looking up the two feet to Flint with the nastiest sneer Flint could imagine on an ugly fuck like him. “And what if I keep talking about that cross dressing broad? Hm? What if I keep on talkin?”

His ashy eyes widened at the cold feeling of metal shoved right underneath his chin.

Flint smirked. “I warned ya.”

A satisfied snarl grew on his face when he heard the crack of the man’s nose under his fist and the loud thud as he fell back and smashed into the table.

“Oh hell yeah, ye good ole son of a bitch!” Bern leapt to his feet. “I’ve been itching my balls for a fight!”

“My nose! You broke my nose!”

“No, I didn’t, ya wuss!” He barked in laughter and swung a punch towards the next soldier. “I’ve been breaking folks like ya’s noses since I could walk, and I know I did not break ya damn nose!”

Bones shoved into one soldier. Xarac tore the coat off another and began strangling him with it. Bern has wrestled another to the ground.

Calhoun scrambled to his feet and for his pistol.

He didn’t get far before Flint’s large hand wrapped around his head.

He screamed and struggled into his hand. He barely weighed nothing, that made Flint smirk as he threw him into the wall.

“Volcrien bastard,” he coughed, holding his throat.

“I said if ya say another word about Cash, I’d tear out yer tongue, ya understand!” He growled. The others were up.

As if a couple of terrans could give him a problem.

Flint ducked from a punch. He snatched the chair beside him and smashed it over a man’s head. He kneed the next in the gut, then threw him at the other. 

They both fell into Bones. They gasped. He snarled and cracked his rum bottle over their heads.

Flint cracked his neck as the captain pushed himself to his feet, still rubbing his throat.

He didn’t even bother moving away from his swings. He whipped around like a shark after fish and snatched the man’s shirt. With a yank, he felt something in the man’s stomach snap as he slammed his knee into his chest and threw him to the other table.

The aliens sitting there just lifted their cups so they wouldn’t lose their drinks and scoffed as Calhoun tumbled over their table.

Flint cracked his knuckles with single sickening pops, swaying and shifting from one leg to the other just as Calhoun staggered back to his feet. “Had enough?”

Calhoun bared his teeth and panted like a dog. “That bitch has you whipped, huh?” He spat. “Figures, seeing as you six eyed freaks are on your women’s tight leash.”

He only crossed his arms, Bones coming up beside him as the other soldiers hurried to get Calhoun upright.

“Beats bein a virgin cuck like you, lad,” Bones said with a grunt.

“Tell that to the mirror,” the other loud mouthed soldier laughed. “You Volcriens ain’t shit, fucking topped by bitches half your size before even going out to space!”

That made them tilt their heads. Bones and Flint glanced at each other, rose a brow, and looked back at them. “You ever see a Volcrien woman before?” Bones asked. Flint’s shoulders began to shake.

“See? Hah!” The soldier smirked widely. “Bed is more like it!” He looked around as if he had something that would blow the tops of everyone’s head to say. “Volcriens like em short, must be why he’s so defensive about Cash!”

Flint breathed in and clamped his mouth shut. “Short, huh?” He asked.

“Surprised you ain’t a damn molly,” the man stepped forwards away from Calhoun, hands now on his hips. “Did you know them Volcrien women have cocks? Hm? Apparently them volcano huffers prefer a good pegging.”

He couldn’t help it. He had to say it before he broke. “Mate,” his voice didn’t waver, he didn’t want to burst yet, “my sisters, my mother, and all my aunts and cousins are all taller than me. The _shortest_ woman from my planet was-“

“Still taller than me,” Bones chirped in.

“Volcrien women are giants, dumbass,” a cyclops like alien barked with a grin.

“Mate,” Flint grinned, “you snogged yourself a fine ole lad.”

The man’s face turned white as a ghost.

That was it, he broke.

“HAHAHAHAHA” Flint doubled over laughing, all eyes squeezed shut. “HAHA-OH DEAAAR LORD!”

The entire tavern was rioting. Howling with laughter. It wasn’t at the idea of two men getting together, oh no.

It was the blatant ignoramus this man boasted.

The four terrans grew white and then red in the face, stiff as a board as every last patron of the bar cackled at them. The embarrassment must have been so bad, that they tried to dash out of the tavern.

All of them managed to leave the door slamming on its hinges…except for one.

Calhoun made a choking sound as he was yanked back into the tavern by the back of his shirt.

Flint clicked his tongue, shaking his head.

“Remember what I said?” He asked, face close to Calhoun’s as even his smirked smirked.

Calhoun began panicking. “Hey, hey!” He struggled against Flint’s grasp as he held him in place. “W-Wait!” His eyes raced across the room, landing on the bartender.

She shrugged, “He warned you.”

His eyes could only focus on the large sharp fangs and the glint of Flint’s gold tooth.

Flint’s men followed him out the door with the screaming senate soldier, drinks paid for and all emptied.

Leaving only a full glass of whiskey on the rocks on the counter near Flint’s pushed in barstool.

* * *

Mary was hanging upside down, a looped line of rope wound around her body and thighs and suspending her in the air. She was enjoying the after-storm air, a chilled gust gently swaying her back and forth above the deck of her ship.

“Mare, do you wanna come down?” Cadine asked, leaned against the main mast with a book in her upper hands, a drink in her lower.

“No, it’s nice,” she slid through the ropes and now hung completely upside down, arms limp and towards the deck and a smile on her face.

“Alright,” Cadine shrugged, “if ya say so.”

“I do!” She chirped.

Cadine chuckled, more like huffed, and shook her head with a smile.

“Ms. Cadine!” The primate like rigger Martin, with long lanky arms and a constant quirked smile (story goes his face is semi-taut because of a stroke) shouted and hung from the other mast, down from the sheets.

“Yes, Martin?” Cadine rolled to her feet and stretched. “Are the sails all prepared to continue?”

“Yes, ma’am, but that’s not it,” he said and pulled out a paper wrapped parcel. “This showed up on the lower engine! It’s for captain!”

Mary twisted upright, like a monkey and tilted her head. “For me?”

She twirled out of the rope and gripped high up on the rope as Martin swung over and passed it to her.

She furrowed her brows, but her eyes were wide like a curious cat.

She let herself slide to the deck and Cadine stretched to her side as she began to unwind the thin gold string holding the paper together. “Who’s it from?”

“Doesn’t say,” she said, and tore the paper off.

A note was taped to the inside of the paper, which was soggy.

Her eyebrows went up in utter shock at was wrapped up in paper. It was pink, now turning a brownish grey, and squishy yet firm, like a muscle.

“Is that a tongue?” Cadine reeled back and scrunched up her face in disgust.

Mary read the note out loud. “Senate bastard was talking enough tongue for two teeth,” she cocked her head to the right, “so I took it for you - Flint...winky face.”

“Ugh, gross,” Cadine rolled her eyes and Mary happily tucked the note into her cleavage. “Throw that thing out, that is disgusting.”

Mary looked up with a blank and nearly childlike look, “Can I eat it?”

“No!” Cadine dove for the tongue.

“Hey, no, it’s mine!”

“Do NOT PUT THAT THING IN YOUR MOUTH!”

“IT'S MINE I CAN DO WHAT I WANT!”

“MARY NO!”


End file.
